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Brief Answers to the Big Questions
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Narrated by:
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Garrick Hagon
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Lucy Hawking
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Ben Whishaw
About this listen
Number-one New York Times best seller
The world-famous cosmologist and author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the biggest questions facing humankind.
"Hawking’s parting gift to humanity...a book every thinking person worried about humanity’s future should read." (NPR)
Named one of the best books of the year by The Guardian and Wired
Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues.
Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe's greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet - including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence - he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us. Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist?
These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history. Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking's daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world.
Praise for Brief Answers to the Big Questions:
"[Hawking is] a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind." (The Washington Post)
"Hawking's final message to readers...is a hopeful one." (CNN)
"Brisk, lucid peeks into the future of science and of humanity." (The Wall Street Journal)
"Hawking pulls no punches on subjects like machines taking over, the biggest threat to Earth, and the possibilities of intelligent life in space." (Quartz)
"Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and - where it matters - witty." (The Guardian)
"This beautiful little book is a fitting last twinkle from a new star in the firmament above." (The Telegraph)
©2018 Stephen Hawking (P)2018 Random House AudioCritic reviews
"This beautiful little book is a fitting last twinkle from a new star in the firmament above.” (The Telegraph)
"It’s a book every thinking person worried about humanity’s future should read. . . . Hawking’s parting gift to humanity.” (NPR)
“[Hawking is] a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind.” (The Washington Post)
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-
Story
Perhaps the biggest question Stephen Hawking tried to answer in his extraordinary life was how the universe could have created conditions so perfectly hospitable to life. In order to solve this mystery, Hawking studied the big bang origin of the universe, but his early work ran into a crisis when the math predicted many big bangs producing a multiverse—countless different universes, most of which would be far too bizarre to harbor life.
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Superb
- By Joe Carroll on 07-11-23
By: Thomas Hertog
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Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
- By: Stephen Hawking
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In his phenomenal bestseller A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking literally transformed the way we think about physics, the universe, reality itself. In these thirteen essays and one remarkable extended interview, the man widely regarded as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein returns to reveal an amazing array of possibilities for understanding our universe.
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My Thughts On this Book
- By Jeff on 04-01-20
By: Stephen Hawking
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The Cambridge Lectures
- The Famed Series of Lectures on the Theory of Everything: 30th Anniversary Edition
- By: Stephen Hawking
- Narrated by: Stephen Hawking
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Stephen W. Hawking's Cambridge lectures, exploring the most complex theories of physics, both past and present, remain the most important scientific theories known of time, space, and the nature of the cosmos. This 30th Anniversary remastered edition of The Cambridge Lectures offers listeners a unique opportunity to hear the full series of seven famed lectures exactly as Professor Hawking presented them during his tenure as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.
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The Best Stephen Hawking lecture ever !
- By Munday Luna 13 on 10-25-17
By: Stephen Hawking
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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Carlo Rovelli
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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This playful, entertaining, and mind-bending introduction to modern physics briskly explains Einstein's general relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles, gravity, black holes, the complex architecture of the Universe, and the role humans play in this weird and wonderful world. Carlo Rovelli, a renowned theoretical physicist, is a delightfully poetic and philosophical scientific guide. He takes us to the frontiers of our knowledge: To the most minute reaches of the fabric of space, back to the origins of the cosmos, and into the workings of our minds.
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We are made of the same stardust...
- By Darwin8u on 03-21-16
By: Carlo Rovelli
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Coming of Age in the Milky Way
- By: Timothy Ferris
- Narrated by: Timothy Ferris
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Humans have long sought to comprehend the enormities of cosmic space and time. Here, best selling science writer Timothy Ferris tells the story of that quest. He interweaves the majestic themes of astronomy, physics, religion, and philosophy with fresh and lasting portraits of the men and women who created what has been called our society's most precious treasure - its conception of the universe at large.
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Brief survey of discovery from Columbus to now
- By serine on 01-23-16
By: Timothy Ferris
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Summary of A Brief History of Time
- Unraveling the Mysteries of the Cosmos
- By: Stephen Hawking
- Narrated by: Siddhanta Pinto
- Length: 28 mins
- Abridged
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This is an English summary of the book 'A Brief History of Time', written by Stephen Hawking. In this insightful book, the famous physicist Stephen Hawking discusses fundamental ideas, like space, time, gravity, black holes, and more. He attempts to answer questions about the cosmos, its structure, origin, development, and what is to happen to it.
By: Stephen Hawking
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Cosmos
- A Personal Voyage
- By: Carl Sagan
- Narrated by: LeVar Burton, Seth MacFarlane, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Cosmos is one of the bestselling science books of all time. In clear-eyed prose, Sagan reveals a jewel-like blue world inhabited by a life form that is just beginning to discover its own identity and to venture into the vast ocean of space.
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Over-acting voice actors
- By John on 11-09-17
By: Carl Sagan
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Clutter
- An Untidy History
- By: Jennifer Howard
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Jennifer Howard's Clutter is an expansive assessment of our relationship to the things that share and shape our lives. Sparked by the painful two-year process of cleaning out her mother's house in the wake of a devastating physical and emotional collapse, Howard sets her own personal struggle with clutter against a meticulously researched history of just how the developed world came to drown in material goods.
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Informational Book About Consumerism
- By AoM on 05-20-24
By: Jennifer Howard
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Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in digestible chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.
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Disappointing - not much physics
- By Rob Hahn on 07-15-17
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Listen Like You Mean It
- Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection
- By: Ximena Vengoechea
- Narrated by: Ximena Vengoechea
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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For many of us, listening is simply something we do on autopilot. We hear just enough of what others say to get our work done, maintain friendships, and be polite with our neighbors. But we miss crucial opportunities to go deeper - to give and receive honest feedback, to make connections that will endure for the long haul, and to discover who people truly are at their core. Fortunately, listening can be improved - and Ximena Vengoechea can show you how.
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Isolating Introvert
- By Konie on 04-09-22
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The Character of Physical Law
- By: Richard P. Feynman
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In these Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University and recorded for television by the BBC, Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset that the importance of a physical law is not "how clever we are to have foundit out but…how clever nature is to pay attention to it" and steers his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws.
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Better read than listened to
- By duncan koch on 02-25-18
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Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Why we think it’s a great listen: You thought he was a stodgy scientist with funny hair, but Isaacson and Hermann reveal an eloquent, intense, and selfless human being who not only shaped science with his theories, but politics and world events in the 20th century as well. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos.
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Surprise: Two books in one!
- By Henrik on 04-20-07
By: Walter Isaacson
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
What listeners say about Brief Answers to the Big Questions
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- Miguel A. Herrera
- 01-23-19
awesome, great perspective about how small we are
well narrated, fantastic perspective on how small we are but yet we hold the keys to our own future - humanity's future that is!. Clear and concise (brief) answers to science's biggest questions.
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7 people found this helpful
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- EvilDrPorkchop
- 12-11-18
Amazing
loved it. I will be getting the hardcover edition. great performance by the narrator. awesome
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- Jason Hendricks
- 04-08-19
Intense
Great book, superbly enlightening. Highly urge anyone to read this for our future. thanks Stephen
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- Jacob Chacko
- 03-19-19
Great Read.
This was my first book of Hawkings and obviously will not be the last one that i am going to read
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- Kasi Amaravadi
- 11-12-18
Great Book form a Great Man
This is a great book form our generations greatest Scientific Educators, Stephen Hawking. Starting with Black holes, he tackled some of the burning questions in science, how it will impact us and how we have to solve it or perish. Maybe... Just Maybe... if enough of us listen... Just like the lorax said "UNLESS"...
#Mindbending. #Provocative. #Inspiring. #Witty. #Witty. #tagsgiving. #sweepstakes
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- Pathguy
- 04-10-19
Well done final words of Hawking
It is mostly a summaries of hawking's life work. he include his thoughts on several current issues in his final year. hawking didn't let his disability stop him, and actually turned it to his advantage in tackling issues about the universe and the world most people don't have time to do. Narrator did a great job. One of the best audio books so far.
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- Anonymous User
- 06-23-20
Great book , good narration
I’m definitely gonna re-listen to that in the future when I have more time to take notes, learn better , realize what I missed and to determine the subjects I wanna read more books about depending on this beautiful briefing of many important life matters.
Hawking is just great at showing (at least to me) how science and daily life intermingle. I also loved the knowing more about pur universe in a somewhat simple way..
I loved this book.
R.
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- Richy
- 01-11-19
Good from beginning to end
A bit like the universe, this book has a beginning and an end with some really great things in it. Some difficult stuff and moments of joy even tests and black holes.
It also has an end, worth reaching even if it gets tough.
Thank you
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-28-18
Absolutely profound
Every thinking person should read this remarkable book! If for no other reason just to marvel at the beautiful mind as he expounds on the most important ideas currently challenging the human species.
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- Jerome R. John
- 12-27-18
Great
I loved it. Very informative high level science but could be too much for some.
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